This beautiful marbled paper was used for the #endpapers on our copy of “Historical remarques and observations of the ancient and present state of London and Westminster.” Love those colors and those swirls!

R. B. Historical remarques and observations of the ancient and present state of London and Westminster. London: printed for Nath. Crouch,1681.

This lovely green publishers binding was designed by Florence Pearl England Nosworthy, with her “FP” monogram in the lower left corner.  We love the maze of gold surrounding the colored accents. 

Bliss Carman.  The Kinship of Nature. Boston: L.C. Page and Co., 1904.

Can you spot the difference between these two wintry scenes? 

First image: Henry Graeff, Delaware River Canal, ca. 1910-ca. 1940. Ink, watercolor, and color pencil drawing. Second image: Henry Graeff, Delaware River Canal, River House Near New Hope, ca. 1910-ca. 1940. Ink, watercolor, and color pencil drawing. 

Images depict two versions of an inn and a snow covered landscape along the Delaware River Canal.

While there might not be any snow in the forecast this week, we’re still feeling plenty of holiday cheer!

Marriott Canby Morris, [Marriott Canby Morris Jr. rolling large snowball], 1909. Film negative.

Image depicts Marriott C. Morris’ son Marriott Canby Morris Jr. as a boy rolling a large snowball across a snowy field, likely at their home at 131 W. Walnut Lane. He wears a dark jacket. A path crosses the field in the background and houses are visible behind the path. 

This young girl is giving us serious winter style inspiration! 

John Frank Keith, Little girl in knitted winter coat and hat standing on steps, Philadelphia, ca. 1931. Gelatin silver on postcard mount. 

Image depicts a little girl wearing a dark knitted or crocheted coat with full sleeves and matching hat standing on marble steps in Philadelphia. Her outfit is trimmed with several rows of fluffy white angora yarn. 

Keith was a Philadelphia photographer who specialized in portraiture, mainly of working-class Philadelphians in South Philadelphia and Kensington from the 1910s to the 1940s.     

It may not be Sunday anymore, but this alligator is still giving us a case of the scaries! 

Marriott Canby Morris, [Alligator with open mouth], 1913. Gelatin silver print. 

Image depicts an alligator with its mouth open laying in a patch of grass, likely in Jacksonville, Florida. A pond is visible behind the alligator’s bared teeth.      

#OnThisDay in 1768, the Royal Academy of Arts was founded in London. A few decades later, Pennsylvania-born painter Benjamin West became the Academy’s second president. Pictured here is an engraving done after West’s monumental painting that idealizes William Penn’s entry into a treaty with the Lenape. 

Wm. Penn’s treaty with the Indians when he founded the Province of Pennsila. 1661 (New York: James Baille, [ca. 1849]). Hand-colored lithograph. 

Image depicts the treaty made at the village of Shackamaxon (i.e. Penn Treaty Park, Kensington) on the Delaware River. Penn, surrounded by his delegates, negotiates with the Delaware Indian chief near a giant elm tree. Crates of goods are sat upon and displayed by the English delegation. Native Americans, including a translator and a woman breast-feeding her baby, participate in and watch the negotiations. Also shows brick residences being built in the background. River depicted on right.

Waving goodbye to this weekend like… 

Marriott Canby Morris, [Thomas C. Potts with Sarah Rhoads Potts over his shoulder. Sea Girt, NJ], 1908. Film negative. 

Image depicts Marriott C. Morris’ brother-in-law Thomas C. Potts hoisting Morris’ niece Sarah Rhoads Potts as a baby over his shoulder on a porch. The baby smiles and waves her arms. 

#OnThisDay in 1775, the first official U.S. flag, the Grand Union, was flown over the USS Alfred. This metamorphic pamphlet, which was designed for visitors to the Betsy Ross House here in Philadelphia, lets viewers observe the history and evolution of American flag designs. 

The History of Our Flag (Philadelphia: Fanny Farmer Candy Shops, Inc., 1937). Illustrated pamphlet. 

Images depict different stages of a fold-out pamphlet. Each image shows different stages of the evolution of the American flag.

This is the exact level of excitement and energy we’re trying to achieve on this #MorrisMonday! 

Marriot Canby Morris, [Parachute game, Boys Parlors Camp, Wildwood, NJ], 1907. Film negative. 

Image depicts a group of boys and young men from the Boys’ Parlors Association launching a young boy into the air with a large blanket at Wildwood, N.J. An American flag flying on a makeshift flagpole and a tent stand in the background.